Kaikuaana
by artigiano
Summary: "'Let him'" Danny throws out immediately, not able to hold back the bite behind the words. "You're not the least bit concerned?" A quick tag to 4.22.


**I finally was able to watch the season finale, and while I did enjoy it, I of course wanted some Steve whump or just more angst, so I wrote what I wanted. It's just a little tag, and I wrote this in about ten minutes without a beta, so please forgive any mistakes or crapiness. **

**Anyhow, let me know what you think. Any and all comments are welcome. **

**Standard disclaimers apply. **

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_"He's going to come after you." _

_"Let him."_

As soon as Grover leaves with his daughter the four of them chat for a few moments before Steve assigns them each a task to close up the case, and then heads to his office by himself. As he leaves, Danny can feel the storm brewing inside his partner, can sense the maelstrom tearing him apart at the seams. It takes him only a few minutes of trying to do the necessary forms before he's up and out of his chair, marching purposefully toward McGarrett's office.

He barges in without knocking, but for once, Steve doesn't make some wisecrack about proper etiquette. He just looks up from his desk, and raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"'Let him?'" Danny throws out immediately, not able to hold back the bite behind the words. "You're not the least bit concerned?"

Steve wearily rubs a hand over his face. "Not now, okay? Just…just go home, Danny. Go see your daughter. Go have a nice dinner and be happy about the fact that we managed to finish this day with our jobs, with our lives, and most importantly, Grover's daughter safe and sound. Just worry about Wo Fat later, okay?"

"No, not okay. I'm not letting you just ignore all of this. You get all scary determined when Wo Fat comes into things, and it scares the shit out of me because I'm not sure my best friend is going to be standing my the end of it. You're going to go face him head on, without backup, because you want to see this done or you don't want anyone hurt, or whatever your reasons are. I know you. You're going to go in guns blazing, and yeah, you might take him out in the process, but you're probably going to die alongside him, and I'm not going to let that happen. So instead of just letting him come after you, can we do this smart for once?"

"We?" Steve finally looked up and met Danny's eyes. "You're not getting involved in this. Not this time."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that it's gone on long enough," Steve said, before sighing quietly and looking down again. "The man tracked down a suspect, killed him, just so that he could send a message to me through a traumatized girl because he knew that it would get my attention. What else do you think he's going to do if I don't play his game? I'm not going to let him drag you, Grace, or anyone else into this. This has always been about me, and I'm so damn tired of having him bring everyone I love into it. What if he had decided to kill Samantha rather than let her go? What if Wo Fat gets ideas from people like Ian Wright and uses collateral to get me to do something? What if that person is Grace? What if it's you?" Danny can see his partner trying to compose himself and bring all his emotions to heel, but after the type of day they'd had, the blonde can tell that it was taking more effort than normal. "This is _my _mission, and I'm going to finish it. Just me."

_And there is it,_ Danny thinks. It's exactly what he was talking about before with Catherine, but even at the time Danny knew that what his partner was saying about his girlfriend applied just as much to himself as it did to her. "But you don't have to do this by yourself, Steve. We're your family. We're in this together, not matter what terrible scenarios you throw at me."

"Family has never meant much to me," Steve says quietly, and once more Danny's heart breaks for his friend. "Family means desertion and instability and death. You guys…you're more than family. You're all I've got. So please, just let me do this. Let him come after me and let me finish it the way it's always supposed to be finished: just him and me."

Danny can see there isn't anything to say that's going to change his mind, so he just shrugs and says, "Fine. But I'm coming over tonight for dinner, babe, whether you like it or not." But it's what he leaves left unsaid that he knows means the most to his partner: no matter what Steve says or does, Danny isn't going anywhere. Because Steve is his brother, and he won't let his brother face this on his own. Because brothers mean family, and to Danny family is everything.

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**Hopefully my play on meanings at the end worked, but let me know what you think! :) **

**Charlotte **


End file.
